The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-12-01
A CorSican Legend.

Long ago the brothers Luidgi and
Pietro were living in the town of Vico,
in Corsica; they were proud, brave,
generous and lazy as Corsicans are.
One day Luidei said to Pielro: you
arc growing thin every day, you sigh
during the whole night, you have no
more appetite-what is ailing youP'
Brother" replied Pietro, II want
to marry"
"Very WE'LL" answered Luldgi,
"marry and be done with it; this crime
is common one; every man or nearly
every man takes wife, and we have
plenty of good and handsome girls all
around us; make choice and give me
II sister to cherish as | do you,
brother"
That seems TO be an easy matter
with you, Luidgi. but if told you that
l want perfectly ana naturally rose
and white girl for my wife, what would
you sayP"
THAT. pretension of yours changes
the situation considerably. Why, there
is not in Corsica n single girl who does
not put two pounds of flour and one
pound of carmine on her cheeks every
month. If you persist in your exacting,
Pietro, / fear that you will die in the
skin of an old bachelor, which is
certainly worthy of consideration.
mo, ] will not die a bachelor, and
for that reason | will request you to
travel the couniri i'm search of the girl
my heart calls for. If you find her.
Ludgi, make haste to return and /
marry her on the spot. Remember,
she must be perfectly and naturally
rose and white"
Luidgi who was good fellow. kissed
his brother, took big sponge that he
wet well, mounted his horse and de-
parted on his mission. He travelled
many miles. and as soon as he saw
pretty girl coming Ga being very COM
mon in Corsica) quickly he dismounted,
rushed at her and pressed his sponge to
her face. Alas! the sponge caused the
comely face to turn little swarthy;
thus discouraged he pursued his course,
recting the verses made on women by
the ARAB poet Il savage:
Verify women are treachcrous to every one
near or distant;
With their fingers die with kenna; with their
hair arranged In p.aits,
With their faces whitened ana crmsoned their |
eyes painted with kohl
They make our drink OF sorrow
THAT Arab knew them thoroughly"
Qhe Arabs ought toy said he to himself. |
II tramp like the Wandering jew from
north to south, from east to west. I |
see hundreds of women, young and old,
carrying on their faces the subsistence
of quite number of families. Was il
for that purpose that God created /
wheatp The rich ones use ceruse and
arsenic; the making of cerusc is deadly
10 the workmen. the use of arsenic is
deadly to the women. Are they all
crazy? | do not blame my brother for
MS wish. but blame myself for going
,n this fools errand.
And he became so tired with the fall
ire of his mission that he resolved to
'eturn home. when, one night, having
the hospitality of an old her.
nit he sighed so much that the next
morning his host, who had heard him.
,sked the cause of his afllictlon.
"Ah," answered he, good father, |
I'm in search of a wife for my brother,
md am unsuccessful in my undertake
ng."
''And what kind of a wife does he ex-
,ect, that you cannot find one worthy
# becommlng his better half. Arc the
Jorsican girls so ugly and so bad that
ou experience so much difficulty to
meet one as your brother wishes her to
Yep"
mot at all, father; our girls are
andsome and honest, but the disfig-
ire thems,lves by painting their faces
s.a BARRIERS pole. They forgot that
he beauty described by Solomon in his
Song of the Songs said of herself:
soma buma, una bella,
Come lie tende di Chedar;
Come 4 padiglioni di Salamone.
q am dark but handsome as the
snts of Chedar as the pavilions Of Sol
mon.)
DO not trouble yourself any more !